6/12/2008 @ 6:00AM

In Pictures: Facebook Copycats Abroad

Xiaonei

Xiaonei, Mandarin for “In the School,” mimics Facebook’s design along with its strategy of initially targeting students at top schools. It has also mirrored Facebook’s success: Xiaonei claims to be China’s biggest social network that uses real names and boasts that more than 90% of the country’s college students have registered on the site. In April, Xiaonei claims to have received close to 15 million unique visitors. Meanwhile, its parent company, Oak Pacific Interactive, received a whopping $430 million in venture capital from the Japanese investment firm Softbank.